President Donald Trump hosted China’s Xi Jinping at a White House state dinner Thursday, attended by tech leaders Sam Altman, Jensen Huang and Elon Musk. Earlier talks covered Taiwan, trade and artificial intelligence; guests dined on sesame-crusted sea bass.
Trump said in a toast that U.S. and Chinese people remained connected despite their different political systems; Xi said the leaders’ national goals could reinforce one another. Trump gave Xi an eagle statue and invited guests to see the South Lawn ballroom construction site, which he said was a year from completion.
Melania Trump helped create the menu, served on red china from Ronald Reagan’s presidency; it began with yellow squash velouté and ended with vanilla crémeux, sour cherry confit and walnut frangipane. Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Greg Brockman and Michael Dell were also among the guests.
